An article in FierceHealthcare recently took a look at the growing need for “physician advisers.”

As the publication notes:

“Hospitals across the country are making significant strides in achieving physician engagement through the invigoration of the physician adviser role. Physician advisers are typically physicians who serve as a liaison between case management, the C-suite and the clinical staff, with the ultimate goal of delivering the best possible patient care and facilitating the patient’s progression throughout the care continuum.”

“The role of the local physician adviser went by the wayside for many years, when hospitals increasingly outsourced the functions to audit contractors who focused their efforts upon patient status and claims. In more recent years, the pendulum has swung back toward the need for hospitals to internalize and localize this role to broaden the focus on quality improvement initiatives.

“Because of heightened quality improvement measures, threatened reimbursements and the need for cost reductions, hospitals are again fostering the physician adviser role from within the organization and local healthcare community to engage more sustainably with physicians throughout the organization over the long-term.”

To read more, please hit this link.